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Steve groaned as he got into his car. Hawkins had been going through a heatwave, and his parents were home so the garage was taken. His car had been sitting out in the sun all day.
As soon as humanly possible, Steve turned all the vents towards him and cranked the AC knob. Eddie had made him watch Star Wars recently and he could practically hear Han Solo telling Chewy to “punch it.”
His first stop was Dustin, and as expected, the little shit complained about the heat as soon as the door opened.
“Steve. Aren’t you supposed to be rich? Why is your car 5000 degrees?”
“Shut up Henderson, I had to park it outside.”
“I’m serious Steve, I think this is child endangerment, you could get in real trouble here.”
Steve flipped him off without taking his eyes from the road, and leaned over to turn up Rainbow in the Dark in order to drown him out.
The next stop was Robin and Nancy who had been sleeping over the night before.
Steve had recently bought what he secretly called to himself, and to Eddie by accident one day, the dad mobile. It was a Chevrolet Suburban, could fit eight people, and Steve would never admit he got it for this purpose.
Robin and Nancy slid into the very back row and continued the conversation they had been having while waiting. Robin only paused for a brief moment to rib Steve on his choice to play music Eddie would like. Steve waved it off with a comment about expanding his tastes.
Just like the Suburban, Steve would never admit to the the song’s intended purpose.
The next stop was Lucas and Erica, both shoving in next to Dustin. Lucas offered a “thanks” as Erica complained, once again, about the heat.
“Steve, my hair is going to go crazy. Fix your car please.”
“Actually yeah Steve, my hairs getting frizzy too. Fix your car.” Dustin added.
“At least Erica said please.”
“I resend my please.”
Steve tried his hardest to act annoyed, but if any one of them looked into the rear view mirror, his smile would have betray him.
The last stop was Max and Eddie, Mike being in sick that day.
Max slid into the far back seat with Nancy and Robin. An unspoken rule that Eddie had shotgun amongst the entire car.
A minute later the man in question slid in.
He was wearing his hair in a high ponytail, and Steve nearly choked at that alone. Much to his dismay, it got worse when he looked down. The other boy was wearing a shirt that bolstered the Hunky Dory album cove, fitting as they were going to see Labyrinth, and the shirt looked like it had been DIY cropped. As Steve’s eye’s trailed further, he could see Eddie’s arm tattoos on full display, alongside new ones on his stomach, poking out from beneath his shirt.
Steve was suddenly struck with the overwhelming urge to reach over, and ever so slightly, lift the fabric in order to see them
clearer.
Then suddenly, he was pulled out of this though by the very boy it was about, loudly bemoaning the heat. “Jesus Harrington! You’re car is hot as FUCK.”
“Thank you!” and “I know right!” rang out from Dustin and Erica respectfully.
“Yeah man, on behalf of the curly haired folk, this shits fucked up.” Eddie grinned.
“Wow Steve, thank you for driving all of us the the movie Steve, you can’t control the weather or the availability of the garage and we know that Steve.” Steve mocked as he pulled out of the trailer park and headed towards the theater.
The car burst in to giggles, and once again, Steve couldn’t help but smile.
“So isn’t this movie supposed to be about puppets or something?” He questioned.
Steve practically beamed when he saw Eddie gasp, and grab his heart out of the corner of his eye. Then, in a way he had become deeply accustomed to, Eddie leaned over into his space and drawled in a soft voice, “you wound me Harrington.”
“Yeah dude this is about so much more than puppets. Mainly it’s about David Bowie, but it’s also about David Bowie as a villain called the goblin king!” Robin called from the back, “which is going to be totally awesome.”
“So… puppets and David Bowie?”
“Now you’re starting to understand!” Dustin called from the second row.
— — —
As Steve walked out of the theater, he knew why the rest of the group had been so excited. The group walked to Steve’s car, Robin and Eddie singing Magic Dance horribly, with half remembered lyrics. Steve was quick to join in.
At some point, Nancy was convinced to join as well. By the time they got to As The World Falls Down, every single one of the younger kids were hiding their faces in shame.
As Steve dropped everyone off one by one he felt his heart beat an anticipation. Of what? He didn’t know. But it grew the closer he got to Eddie’s house.
Once he was the last one it the car, Eddie leaned into Steve’s space once again to lower the music. Steve just sat there and stared.
He had taken down his hair, and now Eddie’s curls were resting softly over his shoulders. Steve’s eyes traveled across Eddie’s body, and he was once again struck by the urge to see what tattoos were just out of sight.
“Do you want to stay the night?”
Oh.
That’s what he was anticipating.
He need to unpack this with Robin later, but for now, there was no where else he wanted to be.
“Always, Eddie.”